It goes without saying that pachinko machines in Japan are quite the curiosity. Never-mind the bizarre legal waters that they tread; it’s how hard they try to dazzle one’s senses that’s most amusing. It’s not easy, asking someone to waste away his or her hard earned cash, not on some kick-ass fighter or shooter, but on a game of chance that involves watching little silver balls that rain down. With the goal being to earn even more little silver balls, to then be cashed out for silly prizes that can be exchanged for money by some shifty Yakuza around the corner from the pachinko parlor. One proven tactic has been to tap into popular film, television programs, and anime (naturally); many machines are undeniably amusing, but hardly anything to write home about. Except for Fever Macross…

Comments (6)

SignOfZeta said on 12-01-2011

I’m going to cry…

They couldn’t have more aggressively targeted my exact demographic with this thing. The new anime sequences use essentially the original color pallet of the TV show, the theme song from the movie, and they are good! The entire machine even transforms into all three modes, and almost everything looks period correct. Even the “ramping” during the pinpoint barrier sequence serves a purpose.

What depressing is that pachinko is the only industry profitable enough to make something like this. This could easily have been a pinball machine. Can you imagine? Of course, the manufacturers and operators would both go broke since people will only put $1 a play in a pinball machine, but they’ll put $500 an hour into a pachinko machine.

So on one hand this is extremely impressive, but at the same time really really depressing.

What’s interesting is that in some of the other clips, it shows things like the Frontier-style Fold Effect and even a sort of cross between the Frontier-style and Classic Macross Fold Effect. It really makes ya longing for a Macross reboot. Hey, don’t they have that Macross: The First manga by Haruhiko Mikimoto going on right now?

Pure nostalgia. So many scenes here that captured the imagination yet were so crudely rendered back then. I too long for a remade series. In widescreen dolby digital, 3D maybe. Even a sandbox video game will do…

Yeah, I don’t really want any of that stuff all that much, frankly. Something done in the style of the Zeta Gundam movies, sure. Widescreen? Obviously. Is anything being made 4:3 anymore? I don’t think so. But PLEASE no 3D.